


Explorer

by wizened_cynic



Category: Dora the Explorer - Fandom, Law and Order SVU - Fandom
Genre: Crack, Gen, Parody, Snark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-22
Updated: 2009-11-22
Packaged: 2017-10-03 13:37:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,643
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wizened_cynic/pseuds/wizened_cynic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Benson and Stabler investigate the assault of the star of a popular children's show.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Explorer

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, this is a Law and Order SVU/DORA THE EXPLORER crossover. What exactly are you expecting?

"Cut him loose," Novak tells them.

Elliot slams his fist against the wall. "I'm not letting that bastard back out on the streets."

"We've got nothing to hold him on, Elliot."

"He raped that little girl, Casey. He tied her up and raped her, and you know it. Are you just going to let him walk out of here?"

"Take a break, detective," says Cragen, and Elliot storms out of the room.

From behind the two-way mirror, Boots twitters.  


 

 

((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

  
**72 HOURS EARLIER**

"Elliot."

Elliot looks behind his shoulder to see his partner in a Vera Wang dress that she could ill-afford on her cop's salary. Her hair has been pulled back from her face and curled, and she is wearing more makeup than what can be found in a mortician's office. "Captain sent you undercover?" he asks.

Olivia scowls. "I was on a date." She pauses for a moment and then emphasizes, "With a_man_."

They flash their badges at the triage nurse, who nods and beckons them to the bed behind curtain two. They pull back the curtain to reveal a small girl, about seven years old, having her pupils checked by the resident on-call.

"Hi, sweetie," Olivia says in the honeyed voice she reserves for traumatized victims and Alex Cabot. "My name is Olivia."

Elliot watches them interact as the doctor fills him on in the details. Dispatch had called in, and two uniformeds had showed up at the scene of a B &amp; E to find the girl tied up in her bedroom, unclothed. The hospital ran a rape kit, which tested positive for fluids, which was why the hospital called SVU. The girl has been unresponsive so far and only seems to understand Spanish.

"Liv," Elliot says. "She only speaks Spanish."

Olivia stops performing finger puppets with her $1500-dollar diamond earrings and blinks up at Elliot.

"Come on, I've heard you speak Spanish."

"Yes, and I speak a little bit of French, Russian, and I can Mirandize in three other languages," Olivia says, listing her impressive resume. "But I sound more _compassionate_in English."  


 

 

((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

  
Munch and Fin are surveying the crime scene. The apartment is immaculate except for the broken glass littered below the front window, through which the perp had broken in. CSU are dusting for prints, and Fin has sent a uniformed to talk to the neighbors.

Munch picks up a silver-framed photo from the mantle. "Isn't she the kid on that popular TV show?"

Fin shrugs. "Hell would I know."

"Man, we're gonna get a lot of publicity for this one."

"About time. Every time a white girl goes missing, the media goes insane. If this kid wasn't on that TV show, you really think the press would be interested?"

The moment of heavy tension as the detectives reflect on this important social issue is interrupted as they are called to the window.

"Got a partial," the tech says, nodding in the general vicinity to the window frame. "We'll run it through the system, see if we get a match."

They receive even better news a few minutes later.

"Neighbor says she saw someone fleeing the crime scene," Lieutenant Thrace says.

((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

Cragen can scarcely believe his ears. "The neighbor said_what_?"

It almost pains Munch to keep a straight face. "She saw a monkey."

"A_monkey_?"

Fin nods. "A monkey."

((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

  
"Who did this to you, Dora?" Olivia asks. The girl was discharged from the hospital early yesterday morning, and her parents have brought her in for her statement. Olivia is hoping that talking to the child in the SVU saferoom, with its brightly-colored wallpaper and toys and tot-sized furniture would help her open up, but Dora remains as unresponsive as ever.

"Do you understand what I'm saying, Dora?" Olivia prompts again, this time eliciting a roll of the eyes from the girl.

"I can speak English," Dora snaps. "Stop condescending me."

"You have quite a vocabulary for a seven-year-old."

"I'm seven_teen_," Dora says. "I just look young for my age. My manager told my parents to ---" Olivia takes in a sharp breath, preparing for a disclosure of parental abuse or neglect --- "they gave me these drugs, okay? To make me look young. So I can keep doing the show."

"THAT IS NOT YOUR FAULT, DORA," Olivia shouts, her voice resounding off the walls. "Your parents, they did a terrible thing to you. But it is not your fault. You have to understand that. You are not to blame for what they did to you."

Dora looks at her strangely. "I know that. I'm not an idiot."

The poor child is in denial. Olivia gazes at her balefully, imagining what a torturous childhood Dora must have had. It reminds her of her own childhood at the hands of her drunken, abusive mother. Before she even realizes it, tears are gathering at the corners of her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Dora asks.

"I'm fine." Olivia regains composure, folding her hands on the top of the Little Tikes table. "Tell me about Boots."

At once Dora's head arches back, her shoulders growing rigid. Olivia can almost hear Huang saying, "She's putting up a defensive posture. She must be hiding something."

"Dora, it's okay," Olivia croons. "You can tell me what happened. We know about Boots."

((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

  
Fin enters the squadroom, waving a cream-colored folder in the air. "Got a hit on the print, some fox named Swiper."

Elliot sucks down his cup of muddy coffee and makes a face. "Swiper last name or first name?"

"Only name." Fin makes a "how should I know?" gesture as Elliot stares at him. "He's a_fox_. As in, what time is it Mister. And you're concerned about the name?"

"What's in his record?" Munch asks.

"Couple of B &amp; Es. Petty larceny. Got arrested on the subway over a dozen times for picking pockets. You think him being a fox means he won't blend in that easily."

After reviewing the leads, Cragen sends Elliot and Olivia to check out the Central Park Zoo and a couple of Swiper's comfort zones, while Fin and Munch are off to talk to the people at the television station, to see if anyone harbors against a grudge against Dora.

"I don't think Boots did it," Fin says after hearing the fifth production assistant talk about tame Boots is, how he has been trained not to attack anybody. "I don't think he's capable of it, and I don't mean because his trainer programmed him not to. You saw the knots her wrists were tied in. And the collar. You really think a monkey can do that?"

"They do have opposable thumbs," Munch points out. "And who knows, we use animals for entertainment, we teach them how to behave like humans --- it's no surprise that sooner or later, they're going to turn on us, with everything we taught them ourselves."

"Like Planet of the Apes?"

"Brilliant cautionary tale, my friend."

  
((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

  
They find Swiper at the Central Park Zoo, digging through a trash can, and after chasing him for a good quarter-mile, they catch him and bring him back to the station.

"I KNOW YOU DID IT," Elliot hollers as soon as the door of the interrogation room has closed. "YOUR PRINTS WERE ALL OVER THE CRIME SCENE." He tucks in his tie and lunges across the table, grabbing Swiper by the fur of his throat. "YOU TIED UP THAT LITTLE GIRL AND YOU RAPED HER."

Swiper makes a series of intelligible fox noises as Olivia yells, "Elliot, calm down!"

"YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND! YOU'RE NOT A FATHER!"

Elliot finally lets go of his grip, but not without slamming Swiper's head down onto the table.

"Elliot!" Olivia says sharply. When Swiper dares to lift his head up again, she tells him in a controlled and gentle tone that conveys her disgust and disdain at what the suspect has done, "With your prior record, you are looking at seven to fifteen in Attica. So let us help you. Tell us what really happened, and maybe the DA will cut you a deal."

"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'M DOING HERE," Elliot rages. He punches the table until his knuckles crack, and marches out the door. He nearly knocks over M. E. Warner, who is on her way to the squadroom.

"This just in, Elliot," she says, eyeing his brooding intensity warily. "DNA results came back from the rape kit. You got the wrong guy. The rapist is definitely not a fox."

Astonished by the news, Elliot leans his head against the wall and takes a few deep breaths. He can't believe they collared the wrong guy. He was_so_sure.

"Could it have been a monkey?" he asks.

M. E. Warner doesn't deign to answer that question. She promises to run a few more tests, and on her way back to her office, she briefly considers getting a new job.

((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

  
"Fin, John, you're back," Cragen greets as Fin and Munch stumble in, trembling and gaunt. "Did you get anything from the vic's best friends?"

"The Backpack_sings_," Fin says disdainfully. "Didn't give me anything, just channeled Clay Aiken a lot."

"And so does my friend the Map," Munch adds, "He's trying to quit the show to work for the company that makes GPS systems in cars, and Dora's taking it hard. Says the show won't be the same without him. Think that goes to motive?"

"That he raped his best friend because she wouldn't let him start a new life off-camera?" Cragen asks.

Munch rolls his eyes. "He's a map, Captain, I don't think he's physically capable of raping anybody."

"Backpack told me about a sketchy character that lurks around the neighborhood," Fin says. "Name's Tico. He's an illegal, from Puerto Rico. He might be desperate enough to do anything for money."

Cragen holds out the jar of licorice whips to his detectives. "Let's invite Tico in for a chat."  


 

 

((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

  
They get an anonymous tip from a pay phone on Canal Street, and an hour later Elliot and Olivia find themselves breaking down the door to an apartment in Spanish Harlem. Boots is startled out of his sleep from his place on a mildew-covered fold-out couch.

Elliot rolls him over onto his stomach and pushes him down, folding Boots's arms around his back and frisking him. "Boots ---" He looks up at Olivia. "What's his last name?"

"No idea." Boots is probably an escapee from a lab somewhere, one that does animal testing and makes sure that animals suffered for human beauty. Olivia feels her heart sinking, and her tears well up again.

That is, until she remembers that Boots is a sexual predator preying on innocent young girls.

"Boots," she says self-righteously, "you are under arrest for the rape of Dora Explorer. You have the right to remain silent. Anything said will be used against you in a court of law. You have a right to an attorney ---"

"Hey, what's going on?"

The detectives look up to see a short figure in the hallway, a boy maybe twelve or thirteen years old.

"What are you doing to my monkey?"

"He's your monkey?" Olivia asks, wondering if the boy, too, is a victim of abuse.

The boy shrugs. "He's my cousin's. We hang out sometimes."

"Where are your parents?" Elliot asks.

"At work. I just got home from school."

Elliot and Olivia exchange a look, wondering what kind of parents would leave their son alone with a wild animal. They will call Social Services when they get back to the station.

"Honey," Olivia says, returning to her sweet-tea voice. "You're going to have to come with us."

 

 

((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

  
"What do we got?" Novak asks, lurching into the observation room, trailing toilet paper on the bottom of her shoe.

"He's not talking," Elliot says.

"He's a monkey," Cragen says.

"I could try talking to him," Novak says, before realizing the implications of her words.

"Forensics put him at the scene, but beyond that, nothing," says Elliot. "Warner still needs a little more time before we can get the final DNA results."

Novak sighs. "Cut him loose."

 

((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

  
"Olivia!"

Olivia's face lights up as she sees Dora running toward her. Finally, after much cajoling, the girl is opening up to her. She knew Dora would finally come around. They all do. Always.

"Dora, I'm so glad to see you!" She stretches out her arms, preparing for the girl to hug her, but instead, Dora simply scowls.

"You got the wrong guy," she says. "Boots didn't do anything."

"Sweetie, I know Boots was your friend, so it must be difficult for you to accept ---"

"I like it kinky, okay?" Dora blurts out.

Everybody in the squadroom stops what they are doing and turn to stare at her.

"Perhaps we can find a more private space to talk?" Olivia suggests.

They make themselves comfortable in an interview room, and Dora begins doling out the whole story. "I'm seventeen years old," Dora explains. "I may not look seventeen, but I have the mind of a seventeen-year-old, and I want to do normal things that seventeen-year-olds do. So yes, I am curious about sex. Is that so wrong? I grew up in television, so it's not like I didn't_know_how everything worked. Ever heard of the casting couch? How do you think Teri Hatcher got her spot on Desperate Housewives?

"I know what you're thinking, Olivia. But nobody hurt me, and I didn't have to sleep with anybody to get work. That was the point! Nobody was ever going to sleep with me because I look like a seven-year-old! And even if they do, it's_because_I look like a seven-year-old, not because I'm_me_! I just wanted someone to like me for who I am! I wanted a friend I could trust, I could be intimate with!"

Olivia starts to weep. She remembers being young and isolated, not knowing whom to turn to when her mother passed out on the living room floor, or how to explain to school secretaries why the father section on all her registration forms was completely blank. How could she explain that her father was a rapist? That she was a child of rape?

"I had Boots," Dora says wistfully. She smiles, as if she were about to cry herself. "He never hurt me. We were just trying something, and then Diego came in ---"

Olivia stops dwelling in her own misery as the name sparks a thought in her mind. "Wait, Diego? Your cousin, Diego?"

  
((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

  
"Damn," Munch says. "And to think we had him in custody all this time."

  
((( CHUNG CHUNG )))

  
A week later, they are crowded around a small television set, watching as Dora makes a formal announcement to the press after giving her testimony to the grand jury. Diego Explorer has been indicted on one count of rape, one count of aggravated sexual abuse, and one count of false imprisonment. He will be tried as an adult, despite his juvenile status.

The detectives watch somberly as Dora tells the media that she will be continuing her work on her hit show, and that Warner Brothers has bought the movie rights to her story. It will be her first lead role in a major film, and production will begin as soon as the trial is finished.

"It shouldn't be like that," Olivia says, slack-jawed with horror even after the segment has finished and the electoral coverage comes on. Nathan Petrelli is 4 percent up in the polls. "She's a child. She shouldn't be exploited like this, to have to spend her childhood in front of the camera, exposed to the world."

"She and a million others," Cragen says softly. "We did our best, Liv."

"Well, that's not enough."

Olivia begins to cry.  



End file.
